i'm betty nguyen alongside louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> his policy has been the same -- >> he still says deport -- >> that's been the same. correct. but again you have to start with baby steps. >> baby steps? >> it means setting small, reasonable goals months. >> again, you have to start with baby steps. >> baby steps. setting small, reasonable goals for yourself. one tiny step at a time. >> baby steps. >> baby steps. >> all right. good morning. it is baby steps, isn't it, willy? wednesday, august 31st. welcome to "morning joe." august is almost over, mike barnicle. >> it's upsetting. >> it's upsetting. >> what happened to june? >> with us on set we have veteran columnist and contributor mike barnicle. the man you saw co-hosting "all due respect" last night donny

deuts deutsch. he's wearing skinny pants and big boots. >> that's a good look. >> no, it's not. not for donny deutsch. maybe for like -- >> i relish august because it means back to school and i get to get my new 64 box craola crayons. >> in washington, we have columnist and associate editor for "washington post" david ignatius. getting a shot up. all right. let's start with this, donald trump will meet today with his first head of state. ahead of his speech on immigration. "the washington post" was first to report late last night that trump and mexico's president will meet today in mexico city. "new york times" reports he will travel to mexico and "the post" reports the meeting will happen between a fund-raiser in california and his major speech on immigration in arizona. last night, at about 10:30

eastern trump confirmed saying i have accepted the invitation of mexico and look very much forward to being there and meeting him tomorrow. "the post" reports that he extended the offer to both trump and hillary clinton last friday and trump decided over the weekend to accept the invitation and push for a visit this week. among those advocating the trip, according to reports, were new campaign chief executive stephen bannon and new jersey governor chris christie. whose 2014 visit was a precursor to his presidential campaign. the mexican president added a personal message late last night saying "i invited the u.s. presidential candidates to mexico to discuss the bilateral relationship tomorrow. i welcome donald trump." promote mexico and the world and mainly to protect mexicans wherever they are.

needless to say, trump has had a volatile relationship with mexico's leaders over the past 14 months of his candidacy. >> when mexico sends their people, they're not sending their best. they are bringing drugs. they are bringing crime. some, i assume, are good people. >> do you remember when fidel castro took over. he opened his prisons and sent everybody over to the united states. in a much, much, much more sophisticated way, mexico's doing that to us. so, i had an idea. i think it's good. every time mexico really intelligently sends people over, we charge mexico $100,000 for every person they send up. >> the people are saying, oh, it's so dangerous what you're doing, mr. trump. it's so dangerous. i have to do it. >> days you're with the illegals

and we're discussing that but the illegals coming in. >> any evidence to confirm your fears? >> i heard it. i heard it from a lot of different people. >> the president of mexico yesterday or the ex-president or whatever, whoever, who cares. he said, we will not even consider paying for the wall. you ready? who is going to pay for the wall? who? 100%. >> i declare i'm not going to pay for that [ bleep ]. he should pay for it. he has the money. democracy cannot pay. >> mexico's current president has also had strong words for trump. in march, he said trump's strident tone was how mussolini got in and how hitler got in.

he later said the comparison was only a call for reflection and recognition. trump's visit comes as a poll earlier this month from the newspaper reforma found the job approval rating at just 23%, with 74% disapproving. the lowest level since he took office in december of 2012. one former mexican intelligence official told "wall street journal" for trump this makes perfect sense. he polishes his image. half price on the wall. the mexican president has stood firm against trump proposals while seeing the need for a strong relationship in case trump turns out to be the next president. >> under no circumstances would mexico pay for that border. >> there is no way mexico can pay a wall like that. >> translator: we have to make it very clear that development

and prosperity in the united states is built through neighboring countries. we also have to bear in mind that the security of the united states is linked with the security of its neighboring country. this is what we have been doing with the u.s. government. we have a relationship of coordination, of collaboration and of cooperation in the area of security. >> joe, your thoughts. >> well, i guess it makes sense for both. they do have one thing in common, their approval ratings are within the margin of error. he said, the mexican president is at 23%. donald trump at 26%. so, these guys together when they get together they're going to be very excited because together they're going to be over 50% for the first time in a long time. they do. it's going to be a fascinating meeting for them. i am wondering, though, david ignatius, what does the leader of mexico get out of meeting

with donald trump, a man who has pounded mexicans personally and their leaders more generally over the past year and a half? >> well, this is the matador gets the bull to come into his arena. i think there's a stature gain for the mexican president. i think for trump, losing so badly, as you said in the polls, heading bike almost every account. this is one more sign that he is an unpredictable politician and he sees a moment that will come out of this revising so many of those statements that we heard in the film library. i think in the end, mexican american voters are pretty motivated and i'd be surprised if this was the decisive thing that makes them say, oh, my gosh, i was wrong. terrible things donald trump has said. i have forgotten all about them. >> donny deutsch, is trump going to go hardline, again, or is he

going to come back and soften his position which he has shown hannity a week back. >> the irony of trump and he will walk it back in certain ways. we're seeing he's using the word softening. he is running his campaign on the quintessential politician. hillvy the ultimate insider, though like hillary or not. she has not flip-flopped too many ways yet, trump, has been mr. flip-flop. i mean, the american people are not stupid. he has already shown his hand and, obviously, you guys have talkeded a no ed a naued nauseu moderate republicans, yet, voters are not stupid. he has played his hand already.

you cannot walk it back a step or two and people go, i forgot what happened the last year. regardless of what he's doing today, he is not showing his hands. >> any other candidate would say this is a statesman-like visit. but donald trump has a record in this relationship with mexico. you just laid it all out. undo some pieces of nafta and he opened his campaign. the border illegally and sending us racists and criminals. hard to make the statesman-like case but he's throwing hail mary passes at this point and this is something he can work ahead of his speech tonight in phoenix. >> he also has a gift each and every day no matter what he appears in with a few strong beliefs that he adheres to. a form of political amnesia that allows him to say something one day that he said the direct opposite of the next day and he still up until 72 hours ago still when the crowd wanes in

terms of its lust for him goes towards i'm going to build the wall. >> democrat hillary clinton also received an invitation to visit the president of mexico who she met with in 2014, but so far no meeting is planned. in response to trump's visit, a spokesperson said donald trump has painted mexicans as racist and criminal and has promised to deport 16 million people including children and u.s. citizens. he has said we should force mexico to pay for his giant border wall. we should ban remittances to families of mexico if mexico doesn't pay up. what donald trump says to voters in arizona, not mexico and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and the deportation of millions. joe -- >> mika, i'm just curious what is your take on this flip-flop? >> you know, i'm absolutely done

with being emotional about this. i'm really disappointed and donald trump just as a candidate in general. i don't think that he has proved to mean anything that he says. and i think it's almost silly to spend too much time analyzing his moves because they're nonsensical and with no foresight and they're made up by somebody else and they won't get derailed because he won't understand exactly what his strategists are telling him to do. they're just some strong, last-minute rip on his part. really almost a waste of breath to put sense into it. >> i know since barry goldwater and i'm certainly not one. but, yet, he's clearly detached from reality. i think he lives in his own world day to day not understanding that there is the level of mania or even a soc sociopath has no understanding of what the other person is thinking or feeling or understanding. and i think he is just so

detached and the clinton campaign has always had two pillars. they had the pillar of unstable and the racist and now pillar of flip-flopper. >> to say the least. >> also could be walking into a trap because the president of mexico is in a position, as joe just laid out the numbers. approval rating is in the 20s. he's been on the record comparing trump to mussolini and hitler. this is a great moment for the mexican president to bring trump in and tear him down in front of the mexican people and hopefully build up his ratings, as well. hillary clinton spent last night fund-raising for a third day in the hamptons of new york. the final stop was a star-studded affair. according to full reports, hillary clinton danced with sir paul mccartney while jimmy buffett played "cheeseburger in paradise" at his home. the night ended with the former

beatle, buffett and jon bon jovi singing "hey jude." more use about her private e-mail. the state department revealed it found as many as 30 additional e-mails that may be related to the benghazi attack. those e-mails came from the cache of 15,000 the fbi had to recover forensically but some could be duplicates. the fbi may release their report that the justice department is not recommending charges against clinton which could include agent notes. last night donald trump did not miss the opportunity to go after clinton's credibility. >> the only way to learn the full depth of her public corruption is to read the 33,000 e-mails that she deleted. they're gone. she bleached, which somebody said they never even heard of in a very expensive fashion. used chemical so that nobody

will ever be able to see them. who does this? who does this? now, today, another 30 e-mails were discovered by the state department that hillary clinton failed to turn over. these were e-mails about benghazi. it just never ends with the clintons. >> and "new york times" editorial board is calling on the clinton foundation to stop taking foreign and corporate money right now. they write in part this, "just a new bach of previously disclosed state department e-mails to bill, hillary and chelsea clinton foundation got special favors from mrs. clinton while she was secretary of state? not so far, but that the question arises yet again points to a need for major changes at the foundation now before the

november election. simply closing the foundation, as even some democrats recommend could kill programs helping tens of thousands of people. its plans to restrict its funding sources only after the election will likely dog mrs. clinton. a wiser course could be to ban contributions from foreign and its affiliations for the duration of her presidency. achieving true distance from the foundation is not only necessary to ensure its effectiveness, but ethical imperative for mrs. clinton laid out, joe, by the "new york times." you know, i don't know how many different ways this can come at the clintons to say, come on. this is causing problems for you. but i guess my bigger question is about the state department. why can't they figure this out? why can't they find these things. where is the state department? just sort of some place where things get lost?

i don't understand. >> the e-mails do keep trickling out and david ignatius a one-two punch for the clintons this morning. how do you just find 30 more e-mails regarding benghazi. conspiracy theories will be swirling for some time about that. but that side the e-mails keep coming plus the clinton foundation. now you have series of main stream media outlets and outlets that are left that are making the same suggestion that the clintons should step away from their found option. what's your read on it? do you think they should? and do you think, ultimately, they will? >> it's a steady drip, drip, drip of these stories that call into question her honesty and reliability. anybody that knows the state department would not find it surprising that you could lose thousands of documents in that institution, including these e-mails. it's unfortunate. i doubt myself that unless

they're major new revelations, either of these issues will move the needle enough in the groups that trump needs to really make a difference in the election. the people who were shocked by e-mails for whom benghazi is a trigger point. those people are already trump supporters. on this question of the clinton foundation, the "new york times" is absolutely right. it's outrageous to have someone running for president of the united states. have her husband raising money from foreign governments, from wealthy foreign individuals who want to influence the united states, it's just wrong. i think anybody can feel that. i don't understand for the life of me why when she said she won't do this, just stop it now. not because it's good politics, because it's the right thing to do. >> mike? >> willie or mike. >> mike. >> you know, off of david's point i fully agree with david

ignatius, the history of the clintons and the history when hillary clinton became secretary of state and assumed office in 2009 and they supposedly had an agreement that there would be no conflict of interest with the foundation going forward. by april, by april of that year, there was some difficulties with former president bill clinton and the foundation and money and access and the secretary of state. the clintons have always operated under the premise, look, we're going to do good things. just so don't worry about us. little ripples in the lake, but we're doing good things and stop questioning our motive. >> there's been so much information over the last year or more about the e-mails and the clinton foundation flooded through every day through the press it becomes this cloud. the american voting public in many ways can't remember exactly what happened this day and what happened the next day. so, it becomes this big thing that you can't really get your arms around. the bottom line is, people need to ask themselves. common sense test. was it a good idea as secretary

of state, joe, to set up a private server in your home on which you knew there was going to be classified material passing? was it a good idea when you became secretary of state to keep your relationship with the clinton foundation knowing there would be conflicts of interest? was that a good idea? did it pass the common sense test for you as a voter? >> and, you know, mika, they still have not broken free in a dramatic way to send the message to the american people that they get it. there is a reason why we still have donald trump who's just had a horrific month and a half since the convention. as bad as any major national candidate in modern american history. and, yet, shockingly, if you look at these polls, these four-way polls, he's still three, four points behind. this race is still within a shot for democrats that say the foundation doesn't matter and

other things don't matter. that clinton's integrity doesn't matter, her perception doesn't matter. perception is reality here and she and the family need to stand before a bank of microphones tomorrow. some time soon. do something dramatic. this race should not be as close as it is. >> yeah. >> hillary clinton should be up by double digits right now against a man who, as you said, is all over the place. doesn't follow directions. ignores his staff, ignores his family, ignores his political party. they know he's going down in flames. and, yet, you look at these recent polls and he's within three or four points and hillary clinton is losing two, three, four points over the past month in every poll. there is a reason she needs to wake up and understand. >> there's a reason, joe. and these are the reasons. there's no other reason she's prepared.

she actually makes sense when she makes speeches. she's measured. she cares about the country. she's been serving for decades and saying a lot of the same things about what she thinks is important for this country for decades and fighting for people for decades. those are the reasons her candidacy is impaired. those are the reasons. there are no others. and we've been saying this along with many others for years. so, that's why i don't understand why they can't get in front. i don't understand why they think they're above it. >> clearly bad optics. >> you know what, nothing worse than coming out at the last second. >> at this point, it's too far down the road. an admission of guilt for lack of a better word would open the doors for trump to say, you see, and now finally changes are happening. unfortunately, she has to stumble over the finish line. too late to do it. >> donny, we're not talking about an admission of guilt. we're talking about what "new york editorial page" step away. look what we're doing.

great work for the clinton foundation. let me tell you what we did over the past year. we don't think we need to do this. but enough of our friends and supporters and step forward and ask us to do it that we're going to do this for the good of the country. >> i agree. the right thing to do. by managing her campaign, the wrong thing to do. just as far as her campaign. it's, obviously, the right thing to do. at this point in time, i think it even draws more headlines to it. >> it's pretty depressing. these are the issues with that campaign. we have been saying it for months. >> i just think, you know, out there in the larger public away from tv and media and very few people, i think, are interested in what goes on with the clinton global stuff and everything like that. but i disagree with you, donny. i think if they stepped up to the plate and said, look, a lot of smoke around this, a lot of controversy around this. we understand it, we get it. we're going to bring in an

independent person to run the thing and we're out of it starting right now. >> i know. >> i need to take exception, mike, with something that you said because you've said that and others have said that about e-mails that nobody cares about the e-mails. nobody cares about the e-mails and nobody cares about the foundation and her approval ratings have plummeted down into the high 30s, low 30s, high 20s. they may not know the specifics of it. don't you think -- don't you think it is weighing. i think it's weighing her down and, you know, starting the campaign with a dramatic statement. and the campaign starts after labor day. i just, you don't, you don't think that would make a big difference? >> no, i think it would make a difference. but i think the e-mail, the home server, the foundation. i think it's all part of the bag that the clintons have lugged across the landscape of this

country for 30 years. i don't think it's one specific thing. i think it's just an additional thing. >> when the people get out there and it's 30 e-mails benghazi hidden. that doesn't help. sorry. 30 missing e-mails about benghazi. that just doesn't help. >> it's still mushier and gooshier. >> people are not that dumb. >> it's not a matter of dumb. the trumps, yes, she's untrustworthy. we get it. trump is dangerous and unstable. unstable trumps. >> i'm just saying what we have been saying for over a year, even further, is that the e-mail thing is big, it needs to be answered to. it needs to be completely transparent from the get go. i guess she couldn't push the state department to move it along and get those e-mails out? >> i feel a little comic relief coming up, though. >> we do. we need it today. >> we do. still ahead on "morning

joe." paul lepage is considering resigning or he might not be. is he in that territory of mayor -- >> not well. >> we'll look into that a bit. plus nbchallie jackson live in arizona. new details on the death of one of isis's top leaders. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back."vo: cle ti know more about isis than the generals do, believe me." vo: and calm judgment. donald trump: "and you can tell them to go fu_k themselves." vo: because all it takes is one wrong move. donald trump audio only: "i would bomb the sh_t out of them." vo: just one.

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28 past the hour. the islamic state group's second in command has reportedly been killed. the news agency announced the death abu muhammad al adnani. the pentagon could not confirm his death, but said coalition forces were carrying out air strikes targeting near the border of turkey.

al adnani the pwesterners in 2014. the u.s. esyria policy rests on a treacherous fault line. may be delayed because of a nasty fight between turkey and the nasty fight between turkey and the syrian kurdish mu lisha known as the sadly it's a classic middle east moment when regional players mistrust of each other overwhelms their common interest in fighting the terrorist islamic state. the syrian policy built its military plans on the treacherous fault lines of turkish, kurdish. u.s. military power can't say the house built on quick sand before we move on, the aunited

states needs to frame a clear understanding with the neighboring states of what comes next. >> how have the recent attacks against the turkish people moved this along and changed the dynamic at all? >> well, the turks are now in syria. they invaded ten days ago and that invasion in one sense makes the turkish/syrian border more secure. it finally closes that border. but it walks into this quick sand that i referred to in that op-ed piece that mika just read. the hatred between the turks and the syrian kurds who have been our best fighters in syria who have been the people taking the fight to isis in places you probably have never heard of probably. those have been brutal battles and these people have fought hard for the united states and for their land and they've won.

their next goal was raqqa the capital of syria. i was told by my sources until it is sorted out, they will not go forward with that. >> but, david, do we not want turkey engaged and involved in there? i certainly understand the rivalry and the deep seeded hatred between the turks and the kurds and syria. but is it a plus for us that you have syria in there and was it worth wading into that quick sand to try to separate these two? >> in the middle east they don't have just plus and minus signs as they're all complicated and mixed together. it's a plus that turkey has moved, but the real minus that that movement seems to have led the toughest force that we were counting on to clear raqqa to

pull back. there is a plus side and also a minus side. i would also just say before we leave this killing of al admani the chief foreign operations director is a big deal. this is the second most important person. >> is it? >> it is a big deal. this is the face. the most toxic side of the movement calling on lone wolf and planning operations. according to "new york times" he has a network of hundreds of people he sent into europe. decapitating the head of that network is a big deal. >> i'll get yelled at by alex because you have to go. but i have to briefly ask you, what are your thoughts on the military cooperation agreement signed between india and the united states. ash carter. how significant is that? >> u.s. and india military cooperations should be seen in our concerns. nothing that china fears more than this other enormously

powerful rising asian country being in alliance with the united states implicitly against china. we're not going to say that officially. be very careful about that. but china understands that. it's very important. it's done on the eve of the g-20 summit. president obama this weekend will be in china. so, i think it's part of the whole series of adjustments in asia to rising china power. >> david ignatius, thank you very much. coming up, john mccain and marco rubio send off threats to win and win big and the guy challenging debbie wasserman schultz concede, but not in a way you might think. we'll explain when "morning joe" comes right back.

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amphibian. male teacher: excellent. welcome to a brighter future. welcome to it all. comcast. all right. let's get some of the critical down ballot races we have been following. on to the general election for senator john mccain of arizona after defeating his closest primary challenger by nearly 62,000 votes in last night's senate primary. the long-time senator won 52% of the republican vote followed by kelly ward's nearly 39%. that means he'll save democratic congresswoman anne kirkpatrick in the general election. a 12-point lead in that race with election day less than 70 days away. during his victory speech in phoenix earlier this morning,

senator mccain said it is critical for republicans to maintain their majority in congress and check the next president, no matter who he or she is. >> republicans must be willing to put forward smart, common sense effective policies. and we must be able to resist from a position of strength ideas coming from the next white house, whoever occupies it, that will take the country in the wrong track. it's imperative republicans maintain our majorities in congress. it's important to america's future that we have a say over the next president's appointments to the united states supreme court. >> speaking out after her loss, kelly ward said, "sadly the establishment seems to have won this battle by spending untold millions to call me liberal, dangerous, weak." >> she just used age as a factor. >> she did. she added the republican party cannot win as a national party if we keep nominating uncareered

politicians whose only ubive is perpetual re-election. >> she was really, really rude. she was unbelievably rude. i'm sorry. >> now senator mccain moves on to the general election we're in. going to tie him to donald trump. in florida marco rubio won his republican primary. he walked away with 72% of the vote over his top challenger. rubio will face patrick murphy who won the democratic senate primary with 60% of the vote. mike pence tweeted a photo of his phone call with senator rubio last night congratulating him on the win. msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt caught up with senator rubio after his victory and asked him about what florida voters see in donald trump. >> you once said donald trump is going to make america orange, again. is that the kind of person you're trying to convince floridians to be now?

>> he's running against hillary clinton who is one of the most dishonest people to run for president. i'm running for the senate and that's an independent branch of government and one that has an important role in our constitution. i can't wait to get back to it. >> kasie pulling out the last zingers. >> they're so sweet and innocent and make the person break down. >> she hits you with the hunt. meanwhile, questions are being raised whether senator rubio still has presidential ambitions. during an interview yesterday he wouldn't commit to serving out a six-year senate term. >> no one can make that commitment because you don't know what the future is going to hold in your life personally or politically. i can commit to you this. i am running to be a u.s. senator. i am fully prepared to be the u.s. senate to be the last political office i ever hold. >> in the senate, i will fight for you every single day. you compare that to senator rubio who just yesterday said no one can make a commitment to a

six-year term. dpe guess what, senator, i have two words for you. i can. >> joe, we talked about this yesterday. marco rubio is back in the game now. he bought himself six years more years and bought himself a ticket in the 2020 campaign potentially. >> wait, what? >> i mean. he can't commit. >> four years away, joe, you see. >> i understand. >> and, you know, i -- here's hoping as a guy who loves florida and lived in florida for a very long time that marco rubio actually does his job. and he does his job as a florida senator. there is always complaints up in northwest florida that he just never came up there. after the bp spill, you actually had the democratic senator who a lot of people didn't vote for. bill nelson, he was up all the time. asked people what they needed and what they wanted.

marco wasn't there. everywhere they went around the state, they said marco was always a no show. you look at his intel ratings. they're absolutely horrific. so, here's hoping that a young, talented guy will actually focus on where he is not, where he is now and not where he wants to be. maybe he needs to look at yodda jabbing a stick into luke skywalker during that scene in the empire strikes back. and actually focus on where he is, for once. he never focuses on where he is. he is always looking over the next hill. really good for him to finish a term. and be an effective senator. >> joe, to that point, it's interesting. sometimes you can just feel candidates and you look at murphy standing up there and rubio and there's a three or four-point difference. rubio feels really vulnerable. sometimes you can smell a loser in advance. for the very reasons you're talking about and the senate, controlling the senate could come down to that race and one

guy just feels, you look at murphy up there and feels like wind at the back and you look at rubio and it feels like wind in his face. >> i think rubio, though, and it's a lot like hillary. and a lot like trump. i think rubio's worst enemy is rubio. he needs to keep being asked whether he's going to serve six years. not hard for him to say, yes. i will keep my word to the people and serve. i mean, there's no law against him leaving early. and there's no law against him running for president again in 2020. and he's certainly free to do that, if he wants. but he's already, he's already done this one time to the people of florida. and, so, it just -- all i'm saying politically it seems to make good sense for him to say, hey, i've done this to you once. i'm not going to do it to you, again. if you vote for me and make me your senator, you'll serve out your term. he'll be in a stronger position if he does that.

>> there's no question. i think he's running for president, again. he thinks an aberrational year and a freak year for trump. he's still young and still got a shot at it. he's got to get through murphy, first. debbie wasserman schultz won her primary last night. she fended off her bernie sanders back challenger canova. wasn't ready to concede. >> it isn't over until it's over. i'm not ready to concede anything yet. i still maintain that what this is about is we're fighting for american democracy. this has been a rigged system and everyone knows it. >> according to a reporter from "miami herald" cunova said i will concede debbie wasserman schultz. >> another gracious loser. >> that's my confession, again. she won 57% of the vote. >> there you go. good for her. still ahead, two of the top

vders in republican circles former press secretary to ari fleischer also chief strategist for mitt romney's 2012 campaign. stewart stevens two guys on the opposite side of donald trump. we'll talk to them when "morning joe" comes back. and thounds of miles away. with the help of at&t, red bull racing can share critical information about every inch of the car from virtually anywhere. brakes are getting warm. confirmed, daniel you need to cool your brakes. understood, brake bias back 2 clicks. giving them the agility to have speed & precision. because no one knows & like at&t.

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joining us now for the must-read opinion pages frank. you wrote this on sunday about the misery of the mini trumps. let's see what you mean by that. unlike other political supernovas, trump doesn't have coattails or for that matter a coat. not even a windbreaker. that cast serious doubt on the existence of trumpism minus trump. trumpism isn't the kind of force in 2016 that the tea party was in 2010. the next congress won't be full of republicans who ran on trump's signature ideas or have any particular investment in them. there's less evidence of republicans moving unmasked towards trump's platform than of trump himself retreating from it as he did on immigration last

week. by election day, there might not be trumpism with trump. in a bid for the white house as suffered with self-love as the rest of his life, he doesn't direct his light outward, it shines only on ohim. what does that mean for people who endorse trump or think that trump will help them win re-election in their districts? >> not a lot of evidence that they will. i mean, around the country and i go through these in the piece, but around the country there are candidates who win the republican primaries and try to speak exactly as trump did. ran commercials. >> this is not a joke. how is that going for them? >> it didn't go well at all. we just saw this yesterday or today. in florida, marco rubio's opponent in the primary really campaigned as a mini trump. the papers in florida talked at him as the cuban american donald trump. he just lost miserably to marco

rubio. >> joe, this leads to the question that you hate. i'll just toss it to you, there seems to be no value in being a trump supporter, if you're a republican. >> if you are talking about if you're running for public office and a republican primary right now what a lot of people are starting to realize is there is no punishment for incumbents for endorsing him, quietly endorsing him saying, i'll vote for him. but then i'm not going to really support him. you saw with john mccain who got hammered. not only on the age questions but hammered nonstop by his opponent and you're seeing it in the primary an opponent hammering him for supporting donald trump. we've shown the videos. yet, mccain is up double digits in the general election. so, right now it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect on republicans who meekly support

him and then run away from him as far as they can. >> but, what about those who are supporting him? people like rob portman who have kind of grungingly endorsed trump and stepped aside. he's doing well in ohio. >> people who are pro-trump and hold the sign and run for re-election. what's happening? >> they're not getting very far. there doesn't seem to be a trump magic without the hair, the buildings, et cetera. >> mika, we already asked that question. challengers running with incumbents who already have their own background whether it's paul ryan or whether it's rob portman or whether it's, those are the people who are able to, meekly endorse donald trump and then run away from him. >> why can't they say i can endorse him --

>> it seems to be a winning formula right now. even though you don't like it, this seems at this point to be a winning formula. why don't they meekly endorse donald trump and then run away? we're talking about what works here. not what is right. what works. you're suggesting it doesn't work. it does work. it's working right now for paul ryan. it's working right now for rob portman and it's working right now in pennsylvania. it's working right now across america. it's working right now in arizona. >> you know, frank, one of the more interesting aspects of this whole thing if you take trump out of it, which is hard to do. if you take him out of it, we paid little attention in the beginning and then paying little attention now i think members of the media to the elements behind trump's rise. what were the elements that caused so many people to say, yeah, yeah, he is my guy. just wasn't trump. >> some of the elements that explain bernie sanders, that are

so interesting. protectionism et cetera that are much more popular with american voters than we realize and going to have to be grappled with both parties going forward. donald trump's particular package with that bluster with the crudeness and all of that when people have tried to emulate it, smaller people, so to speak. it hasn't worked for them in the primary so far. >> i wonder what would happen if they said, i'm not with trump, but i get what you need and i get what you need. frank, stay with us, would you, please. continue this conversation coming up at the top of the hour, following the breaking political news overnight. donald trump set to meet with the president of mexico. robert costa broke the story and he joins us next. tennis legend serena williams moves forward, and with the chase mobile® app we're on the same path, offering innovative, and convenient ways to bank.

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can we go through a process or do you think they have to get out? you tell me. how many think they should go through a process that maybe give them a chance. clap, we want to hear you. >> how many people? >> he didn't change his stance on anything. what he's done all along is he's speaking with the people. he's not lecturing them like most of the politicians that you see. he's having a conversation. he surveyed the room and asked, what are your thoughts on this? i want to take into account what the people say. it seems like he's polling the room and not quite sure what the policy is. >> he was asking for an opinion. his policy has been the same for the last six, seven, eight months. >> that's been the same. but you have to start with baby steps. you have to eliminate the sanctuary cities and have to get rid of the criminals, certainly

first ando foremost and secure the border. >> so, the question is, softening, again. welcome back to "morning joe." wednesday, august 31st. with us veteran columnist mike barnicle. "new york times" columnist frank bruni white house press secretary ari fleischer. hi, ari. >> good morning. >> how are we doing today? >> am i in trouble with you, again? >> you are. maybe things have changed. >> not much has changed. i took two weeks off and stopped watching. >> your opinions still remain the same? >> yeah. hillary is still hillary. my opinion has not changed. >> nicholas and political reporter for "washington post" and msnbc political analyst robert costa, who broke the big news of the morning and that is that donald trump will meet today with his first head of state, ahead of his speech tonight on immigration. "the washington post" was first to report late last night that trump and mexico's president

will meet today in mexico city. the "post" reports the meeting will happen between a fund-raiser in california and his major speech on immigration in arizona. last night at about 10:30 eastern, trump confirmed saying i have accepted an invitation and look very much forward neating him tomorrow. "post" reports that pena nieto extended the invitation to trump and hillary. among those advocating the trip, according to reports, for new campaign chief executive stephen bannon and new jersey governor chris christie whose 2014 visit to mexico was the precursor to his presidential campaign. the mexican president added a personal message late last night saying "i invited the u.s. presidential candidates to mexico to discuss the bilateral relationship." tomorrow i welcome donald trump.

i believe in dialogue to promote the interest of mexico and the world and protect mexicans wherever they are. joe? >> bob costa, you broke the news last night. tell us about it. why is trump going to mexico? >> well, he got the invitation last friday and over the weekend he was at his weekend retreat, his golf club outside of new york city and meeting with his campaign manager and former head of breitbart and campaign chief executive. and the thing about how to go big and have headline grabber this week as trump rolls out his immigration speech and tries to clarify his wavering position and, so, from what i hear based on my reporting, bannon and others around trump said you should just go to mexico and accept the invitation and make it a surprise trip. not everyone in that room, joe, i hear was totally enthusiastic about the idea. they were maybe the political theater would not play out and he is going. he is accepted and that is the

story for now. >> do you know who in the room was opposed to trump going to mexico? >> several people in the room which is a lot of trump family, friends and advisors who had some reservations about the logistics, the security and the political consequences. specifically, who spoke out against the trip. i haven't been able to confirm that yet. but i know there was definitely a healthy discussion about whether this was a smart move. >> does it still appear that bannon is in firm control of this campaign now and trump's top adviser and top confident? >> i think bannon is someone who understands trump's mo. he understands how trump thinks not as a republican and not as the gop nominee, but really as a populous nationest. what is interesting about bannon is coming out of the breitbart wing of the party. he does have stunts. this is classic bannon. >> there was always friction

between whether it was cory and other people around trump. the family. there was friction between manafort and cory. eventually manafort and others around the campaign. right now is bannon fighting other people in the family or right now it is bannon enjoying a fairly peaceful run as the head of this campaign? >> so far bannon's public run has not been very peaceful. allegations about his past. >> right. >> inside. >> inside, it has been pretty peaceful. my sources tell me that kellyanne conway has become and assumed the role of the public face of the campaign. someone who can explain trump in public and go on numerous shows and who has a repore with trump. bannon has not done an interview and been operating really quietly behind the scenes. has a private meeting on saturday, the former democratic poll ster.

he's planning his trip to mexico. he was a person in many ways who was behind trump's trip to baton rouge. bannon as his operator at trump's side and not making any kind of public name for himself. >> hey, bob -- >> donny deutsch, i'm sorry, go ahead, willie. >> i was just going to say. bob, you said the trump campaigns hopes this is a headline grabbing trip. have they considered the headline that using this effectively as an opportunity. a president not very popular down there in mexico a guy to take on for 16 months. >> i think that is a key variably, willie. shows the reaction in mexico has been visceral and quick and people are not happy in the community and, of course, mexico at large about trump's trip. there could be a site of massive protests. that's one thing the trump campaign is wondering about. how is this going to look in terms of the image?

this is why they push for it to be a private meeting based on the reporting that the mexican reported for this to be a private meeting. >> ari, your guy, donald trump going to mexico. just a very few hours before a major speech that he's scheduled on immigration. this is a considerable risk. >> it is. first of all, my guy was george w. bush and i remember i was with him when he went to mexico. the thing about the meetings with foreign leaders. >> clearly, that's a huge problem for donald trump. but the opportunity trump has is to raise his stature. and this is something he surely needs. donald trump hurt himself with constitchancies and particularly college graduates. his problem is less with hispanics and less with blacks and more with white women, college graduates. ironically. that's amazing for trump. if he can do anything that shows himself on a level of stature. even if the president of mexico.

if trump responds in a thoughtful manner on a national stage, it's a wonderful opportunity for him. the question is, can he be thoughtful? any piece of advice i have for donald trump, that's the most important thing for him. >> needless to say, trump has had a volatile relationship with mexico's leaders over the past 14 months of his candidacy. >> when mexico sends their people, they're not sending their best. they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime and they're ra rapists and some are good people. >> when fedel castro took over he opened the prisons and sent everybody over to the united states. in a much, much sophisticated way, mexico is doing that to us. i think it's good. every time mexico really intelligently send people over, we charge mexico 100,000 for every person they send over.

the people are saying, oh, it's so dangerous what you're doing, mr. trump. it's so dangerous. i have to do it. i have to do it. >> great day with the illegals and we're just discussing that. a dangerous day on the border with the illegals coming in. yes, ma'am. >> confirm your fears about mexico sending criminals across the border. >> yes, i have. i heard it from a lot of different people. >> the president of mexico yesterday or the ex-president or whatever, whoever, who cares. he said, we will not even consider paying for the wall. you ready. who is going to pay for the wall? 100%. >> i declare i'm not going to pay for that [ bleep ] wall. he should pay for it. he's got the money. democracy cannot crazy people

that knows what's going on in the world today. >> just he doesn't understand more mexicans are leaving than coming, right? we do know. right? >> this ebab and flows. >> illegal immigration is a problem. >> oh, my. mexico's current president who also had strong words. >> shouldn't matter. if you come to america, you need to come here legally. >> all right. >> in march he said trump's tone with how mussolini got in and how hitler got in. he later said the comparison is only a call for reflection. joe? >> ari, donald finds himself in a difficult position. he was trying to soften up when he was in front of sean hannity's audience and he started to make that move. he got pounded for that and now he's coming back. seems to me tonight in his speech he really doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

he can't go back to the primary position where he's going to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, can he? >> this gets to a fundamental flaw with what donald trump has done all along. he presented himself as a personality candidate and not a policy candidate. that's why he tripped himself up on what he can do with the illegal who are in america. he tripped himself up on the word amnesty. what is he going to do? and if he wants to let some remain for a compromise legislation which is my position and the george w. bush position. so, this is the risk donald trump has taken and where he is with the speech he has to give today. but illegal immigration is a serious issue and cannot be overlooked. we have to be a nation of law. >> 11 million. you can't deport 11 million. it's impossible. >> it's not a game of tag and once you cross the border, you're not home free because you touched american soil. deportation is the law of the land and you can't just wave it

and say we're never going to do it for anyone. >> right. i agree with you. >> so, nick, i talked to somebody around the trump campaign yesterday who said it would have been a good idea a week or two ago to get out ahead of this and lay out exactly. here are the five planks of our immigration plan instead of having one thing one day and another thing the next day. tonight, reportedly, he'll do that and we'll learn what his immigration plan is. where can he come, though? he started on one in the primary and swung over to a place in the last couple weeks. where do you think he lands? >> immigration is the one policy issue on which he has been most consistent. if you were going to pick a single issue that the trump brand is most associated with, it's immigration and the wall. i think if he backs down from it in any real way it's very hard with his core supporters. you know, it's different with his social security stuff or taxes or things he has waffled on. immigration is trump. that is the whole reason he is

in the race. he felt most strongly and personally about building the wall and stopping illegal immigration. i think he has to stick within the boundaries of what he's been talking about all along. i don't think the reporters are out there to hear him kind of waver on the core issue. >> you know, frank, core supporters are one thing. but those closest to him among his staff kellyanne conway on monday we asked her twice about amnesty. she said no amnesty. this could be a problem within the core of the campaign. >> i think there are a lot of disagreements about this. he is in an impossible situation because he came out of the gate and since he came out of the gate, i'm not a traditional politician. i don't lift my finger to the wind to figure out what to do and what's happened on immigration over the last couple of weeks it seems like someone flopping around and lifting his finger to the wind trying to figure out what is the most advantageous place to land.

he's cynical and calculated. he's kind of undercutting the whole rational for his candidacy. he's not a creature of washington. he's not one of the slippery creatures. >> you know, republicans have killed themselves with the vehement opposition of anyone guilty of amnesty. they turned that word into a word you must not say and it's hindering the ability to comp rumize. the people of 11 million people or so who are in this country and throw everybody out. you need a compromise. >> so, i think it is a conversation about this is really important to have. i certain ly -- do you believe things that trump says. >> to my point earlier. >> do you believe in what he says? >> the job of people in government is not to complain about problems but to solve them. immigration is one of the toughest to solve. and donald trump because he says he can do with his personality

and leadership and the issues and the policy. because now he has to grapple with what do you do with the 11 million that are here. will he have a deportation force like he said before. >> i have to get to joe. joe, jump in. >> so, ari, i'm just curious. your long experience around presidents and presidential campaigns. can donald trump be elected president of the united states if tonight his position remains that he's going to deport all 11 million illegal immigrants and have a deportation force to do that? >> i don't think so. i think donald trump is in a big hole and he needs to realize it. let me give you a couple numbers. when mccain and romney lost their elections. mccain was winning, trump is down by 9. white college graduates. mccain won them by four. romney won them by 14. trump is down 12.

he is a fundamental deep problem with the republicans, with college graduates and so many of them think it's because he's not tolerant and welcoming and opening. he's created this problem for himself and he's in a tough spot. immigration helps define him. >> well, mika, he's going to have to defend a lot of people in his base who are going to stay with him anyway if he's going to start worrying about the type of republicans and college educated people that he has to bring home if he wants to keep this election close. >> one thing, one thing i heard about the speech is that trump really has to make a choice right now behind the scenes and he has over the last week. which camp within his orbit does he actually tilt toward? he has rudy giuliani, chris christie on one side saying what ari is saying. you have to reach out to those white educated voters. to educated voters across the spectrum and have a more moderate position.

former aide to jeff sessions, the alabama senator. the alabama senator is likely to travel with trump today to mexico on the plane with trump talking about immigration in hardline terms. so, trump has all the different voices around him and tonight's speech will not only be a test, but be revealing about where he really lands on the issue that's so central to his candidacy. >> robert costa, thank you very much. ari fleischer, thank you very much. and frank bruni, thank you, as well. up next, hallie jackson joins us live and his big immigration speech. plus, trump's campaign manager just talked about his packed schedule today. we'll hear what she said and get a live report from turkey on the news that an isis target with a $5 million price on his head has been killed. you're watching "morning joe." hmmmmm...

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helping to make sure that every hand in the classroom goes up. male teacher: okay, veronica. amphibian. male teacher: excellent. welcome to a brighter future. welcome to it all. comcast. >> one of your ex-presidents gave a news conference and said, trump, we will not pay for the wall. you know what i said? we're going to make the wall now ten feet taller. ten feet taller. ten feet taller.

and every time they protest, it is going to go up a little bit higher. that was donald trump back in february. joining us now. >> must be wonderful, mika. living in that world. >> it's a special world. >> just a special world where it's a land of make believe where you can say whatever you want to say. you can have gum drops falling out of the sky instead of rain. >> it's the land of risking and make believe. >> size matters to donald trump. >> and everybody is a ten. everybody is a ten. >> and everybody can have whatever they want. gumdrops, q-tips in their pockets. you name it. freedom to do whatever you want to do. >> i assume the wall is going to rise at least 30 feet during this. >> oh, yeah. >> yeah. >> all right. joining us -- >> kind of like barack obama, wouldn't you agree, mika? like barack obama when he got

elected this is when they would look back in history and say the tides began to recede. >> you know, comparatively, they did. >> the mountains began to move. >> don't even. >> don't even. >> you can't do that moses routine any more, any more than. >> trump, you can't compare obama and trump. yes, obama maybe there are some unfulfilled promises, but he never spoke in the absurd hyperbo hyperbole. >> i would say when somebody says they are moses and history will look back to this day. >> i missed the moses part. >> when the tides began to recede, we are the -- oh, my lord. it was just pure fantasy. and gumdrops will fill the beaches. no joke. >> nobody is with you.

>> gumdrops on beaches. >> nobody's with you. >> are oceans receding? i don't think oceans are receding. i'm not sure. because i go to the beach and they seem to be pretty much where they were. >> i can tell you, joe, i knew moses. moses was a friend of mine. and barack obama a great guy is no moses. >> i agree. exactly. >> joining us from arizona, near the mexico border nbc news correspondent hallie jackson covering the trump campaign. >> do you have a construction crew in the back building a wall? >> this is a fence! >> thank you, hallie jackson. >> hallie, what is the trump campaign saying about today's meeting that makes any sense? >> all right, guys, so, it does make sense because his campaign manager kellyanne conway just got off "today" show previewing

this trip saying trump is looking forward to having this dialogue with president . clinton will meet with him at the appropriate time. the two have already spoken back in 2014. that's when mexican president spoke with senator clinton. so, conway sort of talking about this trip and talking about the day ahead for trump today. and still not answering another central question about his immigration policy which is what he will do with the undocumented immigrants living here. she is promising he will give an answer. just not saying what that answer is going to be. whether he's reversing his policy or not. we were talking about it before, obviously, this is part of the border fence here. a checkpoint just down from where we are. donald trump talks about securing the border and building the wall as a part of his immigration plan. the build the wall idea is a constant theme at his rallies. almost like a greatest hits. when he talks about the wall and

you're at these events and the audience will yell out, build the wall! who will pay for it? mexico. it's something we've seen all across the country. the current president, the former president have both said it's not going to happen. what is one question we have gotten already. why would he meet with trump and agree to this? >> i think you can look at some of their numbers. when you look at his favorability rating and approval rating in mexico something like 23%. this is an opportunity for both him and trump to have a major political moment. >> well nbc hallie jackson, thank you. that is going to be an incredible moment. i'm not sure how it will go. joining us from annapolis, maryland, "daily beast" columnist, he was the chief strategist for mitt romney's 2012 campaign. stewart, how do you think this is going to play out today? what worries you the most about it? >> it's interesting. i think people look for a

presidential candidate to deal with unique qualities unlike any other office you'd run for. being erratic in a presidential campaign rarely works out well. we saw a similar kind of stop and start moment when john mccain in 2008 was trying to decide whether or not he was going to do the first debate when the economic crisis hit. it just never comes across the quality you want in a president that you're sitting in a room and a guy from breitbart says let's go to mexico and you're off. this usually starts in a fraternity house and ends in a jail in mexico and negotiations to get him back across. it's just -- i don't see that it really exhibits these qualities that people want in a president. almost as if they woke up and

realize we're running against a former secretary of state. our guy used to do the miss universe pageant around the world and maybe we should try to heavy this up. >> stuart, let me ask you this about them having it up. so, we don't know how trump is going to use this meeting with a mexican president. he may come out and try to be a statesman or may come out and attack him and say we're going to get even tougher. but let's talk about it tonight. i asked ari fleischer the question and i'd like to ask you the question, as well. forget about your feelings about donald trump. let's just say candidate x. can candidate x have the same positions that donald trump has, that has the same standing with the american people that donald trump has. can this candidate x go on tv tonight and say his position still isn't to deport 11 million illegal immigrants from this

country. can he do that and get elected in the fall? >> no. you take 11 million people out of the economy and the best you can hope for is the worst recession we've ever seen and we'd probably have a depression. these 11 million people are walking around spending money, buying things, getting paid for jobs. they're paying taxes in their paychecks. he keeps talking about how they don't pay taxes, they do. it's, it's madness. i mean, if that were to happen everybody should rush out and buy stock because it would take over 100,000. no one really thinks this is a serious idea and generally when you're running for president, if you're proposing an idea that nobody thinks is serious, there is a limited upside. >> turning to your chat with mcmullen who is the challenger candidate, the third-party candidate. i've been wanting to ask you about this.

is this like a kamikaze revenge mission against donald trump? blow him up and stop him at any cost or a real content to this battle and this candidacy for conservatives who don't like donald trump? >> i think the latter. you know, i never met evan mcmullen before. he's a very serious person. as you might just surmise from looking at his background. he was in the cia and did very serious work in the cia. he was a head policy guy in the house of representatives. he is somebody who is answering this call and there's so many americans out there who say we would like a center right candidate that we can vote for who can speak to these issues. someone that who we can affirm. voting is ultimately the greatest affirmation that citizens have in a democracy. i think it's nothing but good. i think where he's on the ballot and center right conservative

voters and it will help the senator candidates because there a great danger that the top of the tickets will dissuade going to the polls. if they were there, they would vote for the republican senate candidate. i think a sense that somebody he could look to and say that is somebody you can admire and serve this country. that's all good to me. >> stuart stevens, thank you for being on the show. coming up, the islamic state said their second in command has been killed. pentagon admits they tried to take him out but haven't confirmed his death. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from turkey. "morning joe" is back in a "morning joe" is back in a moment. at places li the batting cages. ♪ [ crowd cheers ] 2% back at grocery stores and now at wholesale clubs. and 3% back on gas. which helped him give his players something extra.

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the islamic state group second in command reportedly has been killed. the terror group news agency announced the death of mohammad al adnani yesterday to repel the military campaigns against aleppo. the pentagon could not confirm his death as of yet. joining us from istanbul, turkey, richard engel. richard, how did, what big a role did al adnani play in recent attacks against the west? >> quite a significant role if you asked u.s. military officials. they say he was not a figure head. he was actively involved in many levels of the group, including its external operations dealing

with foreign fighters, moving foreign fighters around the organization. so, if it was confirmed his death, it would be a blow. but now it's not certain he was really killed. >> he's one of the world's most wanted terrorists with many titles. and isis recruiter, spokesman, second in command. syrian born, abu mohammad al adnani. best known for his calls for lone wolf attacks in the west. an appeal many analysts say is directly linked to the isis-inspired terror attacks earlier this summer. in turkey even the orlando nightclub massacre. in a statement, the pentagon called al adnani the principle architect of the extern ittal operation. adding his removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow. but is he dead?

isis media arm said he is. killed while supervising military operations against aleppo. u.s. military officials confirm al adnani with a $5 million bounty on him targeted near aleppo yesterday. but u.s. officials are not confirming that he was killed. the u.s. has been tracking al adnani for a long time. in fact, he spent years in u.s. custody in iraq until he was released. back to you. >> richard engel in istanbul, thanks. let's bring in foreign correspondent aman. how big a deal is this? >> this is a very big deal. on one hand in the short term this was an individual that was not just a spokesperson for the organization, but really part of the dna of the organization. he was an individual who shaped this operations, he was a strategist. he was probably even killed on the battlefield as we know he was probably inside syria if it was confirmed. this is an individual who really shaped the direction of the

organization and not just somebody who spoke on his behalf. there is, though, the school of thought that isis has been able to generate new leadership. as we've seen within the organization itself, you know, the original founder of isis when it was a young organization, that produced a new generation of leaders within isis and we're seeing now has taken it internationally and made it much more potent. you could see the organization develop a new generation of leaders beyond al adnani that is more extreme and more dangerous to the west. or you can see what we saw with al qaeda. al qaeda central, the organization in afghanistan that has struggled to replace him. >> given the growing structure of the leadership you were just talking about. are there other bureaucratic elements in isis in europe as opposed to just syria.

thinking we've cut out the head of isis now by killing him. but there are other leaders throughout europe. >> i think isis operates on two different fronts in syria and iraq, there is a very cohesive organization. they certainly have fighters and they certainly have members. and they're trying to create a state. i mean, they even have things like taxes and stuff like that. but what they are more dangerous when it comes to projecting outside of its borders is the ideology and the lone wolf type of attack and the franchises of individuals and this is where adnani played a very important role. this is where he tapped into the young people. even if you were to say the orlando shooter was inspired by him, he answered that call because adnani put out the call saying we want young individuals around the world to attack the west in whatever ways with trucks, with guns, with tones, what have you, with knives. young individuals were answering that call. so, taking him out was extremely important. it is certainly going to weaken

the organization in the short term, but it should not be a moment for the u.s. and others to get their foot off the gas and to let their foot off the gas, so to speak. >> the world has been exposed to just horrifying pictures out of syria over the last couple weeks. but we've seen a lot of children. we saw the two boys in the hospital mourning the death of their brother in a barrel bomb strike. we talked to foreign policy people on this show who says this is a generational problem and this is not going to be solved in the next couple of years. how bad are things in syria right now? >> today is the one-year anniversary of the young kurdish, syrian kurdish boy who washed up on the shores and a lot of the numbers of what has happened over the past year in terms of the figure, absolutely devastating. this is going to be a problem for syria and iraq and the world for many, many years to come. this is a very tragic situation. >> ahman, always good to see you. republican congressman and supporter of donald trump sean duffy joins our conversation.

how he would advise his party nominee in the presidential election as he heads to mexico today to meet with the president there. we'll be right back with congressman duffy. [cheering] ♪ the highly advanced audi a4. ♪

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>> we'll be able to look back and tell our children that this is the moment when we provide care for the sick and jobs for the jobless. this was the moment when the rise of the ocean began to flow and our planets began to heal. this was the moment when we ended the war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last best on earth. oh, yes. praise obama. all praise the mighty obama. i'm sorry. we're back. i'm sorry. it was like right out of the old testament.

generations from now. our grandchildren will look back at this being inmomethe moment e earth began to heal itself. and you believed that. everybody believes that. >> i'm going to compare that, what do you have to lose? my hands are huge and there's no problem there. yeah. that's classy. >> you got one guy who thinks he's reality tv show guy and the other guy who thinks he's moses. >> joe, are you serious? joe, are you comparing the intelligeninte intelligent of those two men. whether you like barack obama or not, he has accomplished -- >> you know i'm not. i'm not, i'm not suggesting that at all. i was just laughing when donald trump was saying, build the wall

ten feet higher and then if he looks at it the wrong way. like i said, he has every bit as much of a chance of doing that as barack obama jesus routine there where he was going to be moses and generations were going to look back at the election of barack obama as the day the world healed. >> you're just giving trump too much credit having him in the same conversation. >> this doesn't have anything to do with people who would make a mistake voting for donald trump. this has everything to do with people who were suckers voting for barack obama, believing that he was moses. and the faux greek columns it's all too much. it's just all too much. still ahead, there are many spots -- >> but, mika, let me tell you this. and i'm serious. we're the change that we've been waiting for. >> really. well, what do we have to lose? still ahead, many spots of the u.s./mexico border with no physical separation, yet border

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hillary clinton: i'm hillary clinton d i approve this message. vo: in times of crisis america depends on steady leadership. donald trump: "knock the crap out of them, would you? seriously..."vo: clear thinking... donald trump: "i know more about isis th the generals do, believe me." vo: and calm judgment. donald trump: "and you can tell them to go fu_k themselves." vo: because all it takes is one wrong move. donald trump audio only: "i would bomb the sh_t out of them." vo: just one.

in the primary he was as clear as day about it. every single last illegal immigrant, whether criminal or not, if they're here illegally, they're going back. he did not mince words. are we going to hear that today? are we going to see a reversal

in the policy? >> you will not see a reversal. look at that speech. he does not talk about a deportation force. but he makes very clear that he has not changed his position at all in terms of enforcing the law. there are immigration agencies. i have i.c.e. we have law enforcement. there are many people who should be consulted and should be part of the process, part of the spectrum of responsible actors here. mrs. clinton has made clear she will not follow that either. >> that is kellyann conway. tonight donald trump expects to clarify the details of his immigration policy in arizona. joining us now from wisconsin republican congressman shawn duffy. let me put that question to you. on this show in november of last year, donald trump said to us

there will be a deportation force. there will be a group of officers who remove the at least 11 million people in this country illegally and send them back to their countries of origin. is that donald trump's position today? >> i don't know. i'm not inside the donald trump campaign or inside donald trump's head. he's foolish if he doesn't change that policy, because it's impractical. he should stick with making sure we secure our border and enforce our laws on the border. and focus on those who commit crimes and those who aren't contributing to the economy, by those who are contributing to the american economy and society and are good folks, you're not going to be able to arrest them and send them home. he should change that, no doubt. >> what you're describing is a

form of amnesty. >> no, it's not. >> if you go back to the country of origin and get to a consulate or embassy and then you've broken the law to stay in, you don't believe that's amnesty? a lot of conservatives do. >> amnesty is citizenship. allowing someone to say who is here working and giving them a legal status is far different than amnesty, which is giving someone complete citizenship. that's the debate there. hillary clinton has an open border policy. she's one who supports sanctuary cities. should we have laws on the border or should we open our border up? that's up for debate and let's engage in that aggressively. i know in the show there's been talk about flip-flopping. i think joe just played the clip earlier with barack obama. politicians say things that

oftentimes they can't accomplish. hillary clinton was one who supported traditional marriage. she supported the iraq war. and she supported trade. she flipped on all those issues. donald trump, i hope tonight will flip on the deportation force because it's not going to work. >> so you hope he flips? >> yes, politicians do. but donald trump has run his entire campaign in that he's a man of conviction, he's not a politician, doesn't play to the bleachers. he's exhibiting the most political, the most spineless approach that i've seen in any candidate. >> is hillary then unprincipled? the flip side is someone who says i'll say and do whatever it takes to get elected. >> in the last 16 months, what major issue has she turned on. >> trade. >> she was one who supported tpp.

come on. >> she backed off on tpp. it was a gold standard when she was at the state department. it was the greatest thing that ever happened. she went around. she not only helped develop it, she helped sell it. the second she got in trouble with bernie sanders followers, she switched on that. she switched on a lot of financial services issues too, certainly in tone. mika, the next question? >> i'd like to know how donald trump is playing in your district truly. what are people saying? >> he plays better than in other districts, mika. i think he has taken water in suburban america. in my district bernie sanders played probably a little hotter than hillary clinton and trump played a little better than ted cruz. he's doing okay. >> duo you know any republicans

that are voting for hillary clinton? >> i don't. that's a good conversation to have too, because again there's some folks who are out there saying pick a third party candidate, take one of these people that meet your principles. well, the bottom line is you do have a choice of two. it's going to be hillary clinton or donald trump as the next president. we have to lay out all the facts. you think that trump is unqualified to be president. a lot of people in my district and across middle america and as the polls would show, they come to a different conclusion. they look at hillary clinton and the e-mails that continue to dribble out and the dishonesty and it's another lie. that really sits wrong with people. >> we've got to go to break, but really quickly are you hoping tonight that donald trump says those that are here illegally, if they are law-abiding citizens

other than that and they're working hard, they can work for legalized status, pay back taxes, et cetera, but we're going to secure the border and send the criminals back. >> that's right. and set up a system by which they can acquire legal status. that's the right approach. someone who's had tough language with the mexico people that's real sound leadership. >> thank you so much. always good to see you. we've got much more ahead on the breaking news overnight. donald trump headed south of the border to visit mexico's president ahead of his speech on immigration today. plus an ultra conservative board calls on the clinton foundation to stop accepting donations now. that publication? the "new york times."

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his policy has been the same for the last six, seven, eight months. >> he still says they've all got to go? >> correct. but you have to start with baby steps. >> it means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself one day at a time, one tiny step at a time. >> baby steps. >> good morning. it is baby steps, isn't it? >> it is. >> it's wednesday, august 31st. welcome to "morning joe." my gosh. august is almost over. >> i know. it's upsetting. >> what happened to june? with us onset we have veteran

columnist mike barnacle. the man you saw koe hocohosting night donnie deutsche. he's wearing skinny pants and big boots. >> that's a good look. >> no, it's not. maybe for like -- >> i relish august because it means back to school. i get to get my new 64 box of crayons. >> good for you. >> in washington we have columnist and associate editor for the "washington post," thank goodness. donald trump will meet today with his first head of state ahead of his speech tonight on immigration. the "washington post" was first to report late last night that trump and mexico's president will meet today in mexico city. the "new york times" reports he will travel to mexico. the post reports the meet willing happen between a fund-raiser in california and his major speech on immigration in arizona.

last night at about 10:30 eastern trump confirmed, saying i have accepted the invitation of president of mexico and look very much forward to being there and meeting him tomorrow. the post reports that he extended the offer to both trump and hillary clinton last friday and trump decided over the weekend to accept the invitation and push for a visit this week. among those advocating the trip according to reports were new campaign chief executive steven bannon and new jersey governor chris christie. the mexican president added a personal message late last night saying, quote, i invited the u.s. presidential candidates to mexico to discuss the bilateral relationshi relationship. tomorrow i welcome donald trump. i believe in dialogue to promote the interests of mexico and the

world and mainly to protect mexicans wherever they are. needless to say, trump has had a volatile relationship with mexico's leaders over the past 14 months of his candidacy. >> when mexico sends it people, they're not sending their best. they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. and some, i assume, are good people. you remember when fidel castro took over, he opened his prisons and sent everybody over to the united states. in a much much much more sophisticated way, mexico is doing that to us. so i had an idea. i think it's good. every time mexico really gently sends people over, we charge mexico $100,000 for every person they send over. people are saying, oh, it's so dangerous what you're doing. i have to do it. >> what danger are you talking

about? >> there's great danger with the illegals. we have a tremendous danger on the border with the illegals coming in. >> have you seen any evidence here to confirm your fears about mexico sending people across the border? >> yes, i have. the president of mexico yesterday or the ex-president, whatever, whoever, who cares, he said we will not even consider paying for the wall. you ready? who's going to pay for the wall? who? >> mexico! >> 100%. >> i declare i'm not going to pay for that [ bleep ] wall. he should pay for it. he's got the money. democracy cannot take us to crazy people that doesn't know what's going on in the world today. >> mexico's current president has also had strong words for trump. in month he said trump's

strident tone was how mussolini and hitler got in. president nieto's job approval rating is just 24%. one former mexican intelligence official told the "wall street journal" for trump this makes perfect sense. he polishes his image. what pena is going to get out of this, half price on the wall. the mexican president has stood firm on proposals while seeing the need for a strong relationship in case trip turns out to be the next president. >> under no circumstances would mexico pay for that wall. >> there is no way that mexico can pay a wall like that. but any decision can be taken further. >> translator: we have to make

it very clear that development and prosperity in the united states is built necessarily through the prosperity of its neighboring countries. we also have to bear in mind that the security of the united states is linked with the security of its neighboring countries. this is what we have been doing with the u.s. government. we have a relationship of cord tha nation, of collaboration and of cooperation in the area of security. >> your thoughts? >> well, i guess it makes sense for both. i mean, they do have one thing in common. their approval rates are within the margin of error. the mexican president's at 23%. donald trump at 26%. so these guys together, when they get together, they're going to be very excited because together they're going to be over 50% for the first time in a long time. >> they have so much in common. >> they do. it's going to be a fascinating meeting. i'm wondering though, david

ignatius, what does the leader of mexico get out of meeting with donald trump, a man who has pounded mexicans personally and their leaders over the past year and a half. >> well, this is the matador gets the bull to come into his arena. i think there's a stature gain for the mexico president. i think for trump losing so badly as you said in the polls, heading toward likely defeat by almost every account, this is one more sign that he is an unpredictable politician, he's an opportunist. i think in the end mexico-american voters are pretty motivated and i'd be surprised if this is the thing that makes them say, oh my gosh, i was wrong. we'll see.

>> what is the plague? is donald trump going to go hard line again or is he going to come back and soften his position, which he suggested with mike hannity a week back? >> i think he's damned if he doesn't and damned if he doesn't. the irony of trump is that he has built his campaign on running constituent the constitue essential politician. trump has been mr. flip-flop. the american people are not stupid. he has already shown his hand. and obviously you guys have talked ad nauseam as far as this is a play not necessarily toward latino voters as his reach out was to african-american voters, but to the moderate republicans.

voters are not stupid. he has played his hand already. you cannot all of a sudden walk it back a step or two and people go, oh, i had forgotten what had gone on in the last year. >> if it was anybody else, we'd say it was a statesmanlike visit. donald trump has a record in his relationship with mexico. he wants to to undo some pieces of nafta, build a wall, make them pay for it. it's hard for him to making the statesmanlike case. he's throwing hail mary passes at this point. >> he also has the gift of appearing each and other day no matter in what form he does appear in with few strong believes that he adheres to. he has a form of political amnesia that allows him to say something one day that he said the direct opposite of the next

day. and up until 72 hours ago still when the crowd wanes in its lust for him goes right to, we're going to build the wall. >> democrat hillary clinton also received an invitation to visit the president of mexico who she met with last in 2014. but so far no meeting is planned. in response to trump's visit a spokesperson says donald trump has painted mexicos eed mexica and criminals and has promised to deport 16 million people including children. he has said we should ban remittances to families in mexico if mexico doesn't pay up. what ultimately matters is what donald trump says to voters in arizona, not mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and the deportation of millions. >> what's your take on this flip-flop? >> i'm absolutely -- i'm done

with being i notiemotional abou. i'm really disappointed with donald trump just as a candidate in general. >> right. >> i don't think he has proved to mean anything that he says. and i think it's almost silly to spend too much time analyzing his moves because they're nonsensical and with no foresight. they're either made up by somebody else and he'll get derailed because he won't understand exactly what his strategists are telling him to do or they're some strange last-minute riff on his part. >> i know since barry goldwater a psychologicst is not allowed o weigh in and i'm not one. not understanding there's the

level of megmegalomania -- he io detached. the clinton campaign has had the pillar of unstable, the pillar of racist and flip-flopper. those are three tough pillars for him to over come. >> to say the least. >> also he could be walking into a trap, because the president of mexico is in a position -- his approval rating is in the 20s. he's been on the record comparing trump to hitler. this is a great moment for the mexico president. bring trump in, tear him down in front of the mexican people and hopefully build up his rates as well. >> hillary clinton spent last night fund-raising for a third day in the upscale beach towns of the hamptons and new york. the final stop was a star studded affair. hillary clinton danced with sir paul mccartney while jimmy buffet played cheeseburger in paradise at his home. the night reportedly ended with

the former beatle, buffet and jon bon jovi singing hey jude. the state department revealed yesterday it has found as many as 30 additional e-mails from her server that may be related to the benghazi attacks. those e-mails came from the cache of 15,000 the fbi had to recover forensically but some could be duplicated. later today the fbi may release their reports that the justice department is not recommending charges against clinton, which could include agent notes. last night donald trump did not miss the opportunity to go after clinton's credibility. >> the only way to learn the full depth of her public corruption is to read the 33,000 e-mails that she deleted. they're gone. she bleached, which somebody said they never even heard of,

in a very expensive fashion, used chemical so that nobody will ever be able to see them. who does this? now today another 30 e-mails were discovered by the state department that hillary clinton failed to turn over. these were e-mails about benghazi. it just never ends with the clintons. >> the "new york times" editorial board is calling on the clinton foundation to stop taking foreign and corporate money right now. they write, does the new batch of previously undisclosed state department e-mails prove that big money donors to the foundation got special favors from mrs. clinton while she was secretary of state? not so far. but that the question arises yet again points to the need for major changes at the foundation now before the november election.

simply closing the foundation as even some democrats recommend could kill programs helping tens of thousands of people and its plans to restrict its funding sources only after the election will likely dog mrs. clinton. a wiser source would be to ban contributions from foreign and corporate entities now. if mrs. clinton wins bill and chelsea should end their affiliation during the presidency. it is an ethical imperative for mrs. clinton laid out by the "new york times." you know, i don't know how many different ways this can come at the clintons to say, come on, this is causing problems for you. i guess my bigger question is about the state department. why can't they figure this out? why can't they find these things? where is the state department on

this? i don't understand. >> the e-mails do keep trickling out. david ignatius, it's a one-two punch for the clintons this morning. how do you just find 30 more e-mails regarding benghazi. conspiracy theorists are going to be swirling for some time about that. but take the e-mails, plus the clinton foundation, now you have a series of mainstream media outlets and outlets center left that are making the same suggestion, that the clintons should step away from their foundation. do you think they should? do you think ultimately they will? >> it's a steady drip, drip, drip of these stories that call into question her honesty and reliability. anybody who knows the state department would not find it surprising that you could lose thousands of documents in that institution, including these e-mails. it's unfortunate.

i doubt myself that unless there are major new revelations either of these issues is going to move the needle enough in the groups that trump needs to really make a difference in the election. the people who were shocked by e-mails for whom benghazi is a trigger point, those people are already trump supporters. on this question of the clinton foundation, the "new york times" is absolutely right. it's outrageous to have someone running for president of the united states have her husband raising money from foreign governments, from wealthy foreign individuals who want to influence the united states. it's just wrong. i think anybody can feel that. i don't understand for the life of me why when she said she won't do this as president, just stop it now. not because it's good politics, because it's the right thing to do. still ahead, we'll talk more about donald trump's immigration plans. we get a live report from the u.s. border with mexico.

plus, the affordable care act passed six years ago. but one of the architects of the landmark law joins us live as insurance companies leave state markets in droves.

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coming up on "morning joe" -- >> so i went to laredo. and my wife came home and she was crying. i said to myself, why are you crying? you made it home. you made it safely, from the border. tears were coming down her face because she thought it was so dangerous. i said to myself, she either really loves me a lot or she's

got a pretty good line of stuff going. but it was a little bit scary going over the border. >> that was donald trump after his trip to the border last summer. hillary clinton: i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. vo: in times of crisis america depends on steady leadership. donald trump: "knock the crap out of them, would you? seriously..."vo: clear thinking... donald trump: "i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me." vo: and calm judgment. donald trump: "and you can tell them to go fu_k themselves." vo: because all it takes is one wrong move. donald trump audio only: "i would bomb the sh_t out of them." vo: just one. them." vo: just one. soon, she'll be binge-studying.. get back to great.

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a new monmouth university poll shows hillary clinton holding onto a wide lead in the state of pennsylvania. clinton leads there by eight in the latest poll. that's in line with the average of other recent polling in the state. she leads trump by 85% among minority group there is there. the poll shows many voters uncertain about how they feel about those candidates' support of their party's nominees. a new "washington post" abc news poll shows 41% of americans have a favorable impression of clinton, while 56% have an unfavorable one. that's the worst image clinton has had in her quarter century of national public life. but her 15-point deficit looks

better compared to donald trump's trumps. 35% favorable for donald trump, 63% unfavorable. that's a 28-point deficit. it's in line with some of the numbers we've seen for both of them for months and months now. >> it is. it also shows that anything's possible. you look at gary johnson and bill weld and jill stein on the green party ticket, you never know what's going to happen, whether people are going to come home or if these approval numbers keep going home, you may see the libertarian ticket pick up. maybe mcmullen does well in utah, arizona, a couple of other states. it is really hard to predict what's going to happen three months out when you look at numbers that low. there's no doubt, again, the e-mail problems and the foundation problems that just keep simmering up, keep those numbers down. >> there's more today. >> we have more now on the big

political news of the morning. donald trump will meet today with mexico's president in mexico city ahead of his speech tonight on immigration in arizona. in a tweet yesterday morning donald trump repeated his intent to build a great wall on the southern border. in a column for nbc news she writes, the new strategy is for trump to hold steady on his wall pledge, yet recant on his call for mass deportation. in other words trump wants his deportation and to eat it too. trump supporters are a forgiving bunch. for moderate republicans and republican latinos, it may be too little too late. i'm not sure -- what do latino voters think, police chibelief donald trump at this point?

>> especially for latino republicans, there is a wanting to embrace economic conservatism and they like that in donald trump, but they captain acc cans rhetoric about immigration. so they shut down once he starts basically insulting latinos. he's trying to reach out to those latino republicans. the moderate latinos and the latino democrats are gone. r he's not going to get them to cross over. right now he's at about 22% of latino support. he needs to get up into the mid 30s at the very least to have a shot at the white house. that is what this pivot is about today. >> that's a big climb to get up into the 30s. what do you make of his trip to mexico? kind of scrambled to put it

together. what is the best possible outcome for donald trump on that trip? >> that was a head scratcher for me. but what i'm crystal balling here is that he goes down and he does try to look presidential going on this international visit. but at the same time i think he may want to use peno nieto as a scapegoat. he's going to say look i went down there and i told him this is how it's going to be, we're going to build a wall, we can't let illegal immigration continue. i think he's going to use it as an opportunity to look tough but at the same time soften his immigration stance. >> if i'm the president of mexico, to me this is a rope a dope. this is a guy sitting at a 22% approval rating.

why would he not be setting trump up at this point to come into his country and hammer trump. what's in it for him to play nice with trump? >> i think it's either the rope a dope or what does he have to lose? he's at 23% approval rating. he got clobbered in the 2016 midterm elections in mexico. i don't know. it could go either way here. maybe he's saying just in case he gets elected i've got to play it safe. i'm leaning towards him using him as a rope a dope. but it could go either way. >> it's a huge opportunity for him. it would really really show the emperor's clothes as far as trump being a novice at foreign policy if he goes in there and gets sucker punched. >> the u.s. border patrol recently took you on a tour of the existing border fence with mexico.

jacob is down along the border right now. what did you find? >> reporter: good morning. i'm standing here right by tijuana. this is the little community just north of where tijuana is. we're looking right now at the border with mexico. we've heard trump talk about this idea of building a great border wall with mexico. but we came here to see what the reality is on the ground and whether or not the border patrol wants it to stretch all the way across the southern border. >> it's a double fence basically. >> so the primary fence's main purpose is to stop the vehicle flow from entering into the united states. >> so this is a secondary? >> yes. the secondary fence is used to deter illegal migrants from entering into the united states. >> reporter: there are nine s sections of the border. each has its own distinct topography, length and challenges. of the 1989 border we share with

mexico, some type of fence protects 702 miles. agents will tell you where there's a border, wall or not, people are try to cross it. i see people sticking their heads over there? >> these are what they call scouters. >> reporter: at this point is the end of the border fence? >> yes. that's mexico on the other side. >> reporter: that's mexico? >> correct. >> reporter: and you're telling me you guys can do what you do without the need to extend the fence here? >> correct. as you can see right on top of the mountain we have two border patrol agents patrolling constantly day and night. >> reporter: last year agents caught 26,290 people trying to cross illegally. sounds high.

when you compare it to the all time high of almost 630,000 in 1986, apprehensions here and across the country are near all-time lows. in 1986, the border patrol caught over 1.6 million people, the most ever. last year that number was just over 330,000. so i can see people watching this at home and saying jacob is standing where there's no border fence. that's why we need a donald trump border wall that stretches all the way across the country. >> we manage with what we have right now. it works perfectly for us. >> reporter: these are you guys too, huh? >> that was beautiful. >> reporter: you heard the agent there say they manage with what they have, including things tlilike the stadium lighting that you see just behind me on the border near san diego. the key is, look at the numbers.

fiscal year 2017 they're asking for technology, they're asking for man power but they're not asking at this point for additional fencing. that doesn't mean there are not challenges across the entire border and they're not different from here in the san diego sector. but again when you look at those numbers globally, broadly across the entire united states, the numbers of apprehensions across the southern border, contrary to what donald trump has said, are near all-time lows. >> jacob, thank you so much. joe, those are nsome numbers tht if you look in the context of history over the last 20-25 years, 30 years, the numbers have gone down in terms of people that have been captured at the border. >> yeah. obviously as donald trump admitted, barack obama has been deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants. and also it's net negative right now as far as illegal immigrants coming into this country. more are returning home than are

coming here. i don't understand the border agent who says we don't need any more than we have here because we'll just make do. i don't think most americans would agree with that. you see a fence that just sort of stops in the middle of nowhere. why not build the fence? i'm not talking about a huge wall, but for a lot of americans why not go ahead and complete that fence along the areas where people come in? even john mccain, remember six years ago when he was running his primary, he said build the dang wall? it obviously resonates with people along the border. it resonates with people in middle america too. i don't quite understand why we wouldn't at least complete that fence work. >> i'm glad you gave kudos to barack obama on the deportation. it's a little bit of the parting of the ocean thing that you were referring to earlier. >> actually, no, it's not quite -- moses didn't have any

part -- you watch your 10 commandments, there was actually no deportation of the egyptians. like obama, you know, we held up the staff and the waters parted, exactly, yeah. >> thank you, victoria. still ahead, we're going to explain how google is trying to undercut uber. plus maine's embattled governor says being called racist knocked him off his feet. are those made with all-beef, karen? yeah, they're hebrew national. but unlike yours, they're also kosher. only certain cuts of kosher beef meet their strict standards. they're all ruined. help yourself! oh no, we couldn...okay thanks,

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paul lapage -- >> i'm looking at all options. i think some things i've asked to do are beyond my ability and i'm not going to say that i'm not going to finish it. i'm not saying that i am going to finish it. if i've lost my ability to convince the main people that's what we need and that's the type of people we need in augusta, then maybe it is time to move on. >> but soon after lapage appears to backtrack, tweeting, regarding rumors of resignation, the reports of my political demise are greatly exaggerated. he also announced he would meet later today with the lawmaker that he threatened. >> i want to look him in the eye and apologize. but i think he owes me an apology. >> state democratic leaders continued to call for lapage to

resign after he blamed maine's opioid crisis on blacks and hispanics coming from out of state. however, maine house republicans decided to stand by lapage, choosing not to take any action against the governor. what is going on in maine? how do we even explain? >> you know, the press herald wrote an editorial last week saying, dear america, please forgive us, we made a terrible mistake. david graham with the atlantic wrote yesterday, not only are lapage lapage's insensitive. they are extraordinarily racist. he's claiming that the opioid and the heroin epidemic that is sweeping across maine now is a result of black people coming from the bronx, brooklyn and connecticut. and the facts, the plain facts show that it's actually white people from massachusetts taking

it up there. but he's called people of color the enemy. he said so many other things that are abhorrent and insensitive and openly racist. i don't know how the republicans up there or republicans in any state do anything but call for his resignation or at the very at least a censure. you know maine. mika, you've been going to maine your entire life. this is a great state. >> it's an incredible state. >> i can't believe that -- >> i feel bad for mainers. >> if you show a three-minute highlight reel of this guy to our audience, you would not believe this man is still -- >> it's unbelievable. >> it's time now, though, for business before the bell. wall street just got a bit of a warmup for friday's jobs report. >> yeah. it was the under card.

in this case it's private payrolls as measured by adp. in this case, 177,000 private payrolls created. that came in just slightly short of estimates. the real gains came in professional and business services. construction jobs still lagging there. perhaps a good sign for small businesses out there, we saw healthy gains, about 63,000 jobs created at businesses with fewer than 50 employees. also watching what's happening with the embattled healthcare campaign. the "wall street journal" citing sources they have voluntarily pulled one of their zika drugs because the fda says they didn't adhere to all the standards for testing. google is going to start doing ride sharing to compete with uber. google is going to use this app

to get people to carpool together. google and uber now heating up competition with each other. >> is it goober? up next with several big insurers dropping the affordable care act, millions will have to change their healthcare next year.

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hillary clinton: i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. vo: in times of crisis america depends on steady leadership. donald trump: "knock the crap out of them, would you? serisly..."vo: clear thinking... donald trump: "i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me." vo: and calm judgment. donald trump: "anyou can tell them to go fu_k themselves." v because all it takes is one wrong move. donald trump audio only: "i would bomb the sh_t out of them." vo: just one. hey, need fast try cool mint zantac. it releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. zantac works in as little a30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. y cool mint zantac. no pill relieves heartburn faster. joining us from philadelphia, former white house advisor for health policy and

programs for global initiatives at the university of pennsylvania, dr. ezekiel emanuel. >> a lot of problems right now. we've talked about them before as they've been rolling. i want to ask you about the problems, how serious they are and how they get fixed. first of all, aetna, united health, humana, getting out of the business. why are they leaving and what can be done to repair the system? >> well, i think there's a lot of uncertainty out there. i think for many of them, they're not completely leaving. they're cutting back what they're doing. i do think it is of some concern. the administration just the other day responded by saying that they're going to make some

changes to how they determine how sick the patients are and therefore how much money the insurers get. it's called risk adjustment. that's an important change. they're including prescription drugs. >> why are the costs higher than expected? the costs are much higher than expected from the insurance companies. what's driving that? >> i think that there are two main things. in 2014 when you have a new market, there's no baseline. they made guesses as to who would come into the exchanges and their guesses were low. more sick people came in. and we've seen people gaming the system. i do think a number of changes probably need to be made. we need to look seriously at this risk adjustment and see if more tweaks need to be made beyond what the administration did. we also probably need to increase some of the subsidies to people especially in the

200-300% of poverty line to get them to come in. we need to make the mandate more real and increase it to people so this gaming, going in and out, stops. and the last thing i would say is the whole country needs to emphasize individual responsibility. having insurance is your responsibility. and i think that's a conservative and a liberal view. >> quickly, let me ask you this question. one of the big concerns the kaiser foundation did a study that showed that for 20% of americans they live in areas that have a monopoly. goes up to 40% of americans only have two choices. so suddenly all of these choices that we're going to be presented aren't there. how do we make sure that the trend towards monopolies gets reversed? >> i think that's absolutely

important because we know more competition keeps premiums down. joe, this is why i think people are now beginning to rethink about the public option as maybe we need that to add competition. i think it would be better to have the private insurers come in. i think the government needs to begin talking about, again, maybe more subsidies to get more people in to attract the private insurers. it can be a positive circle. it can also be a negative vicious circumstance physical we don't have enough insurers chasing people. i think trying to encourage people to come in, there are probably 6 million people who need to enter the market. >> how come all of you people with such big brains can't figure out a way to get more younger, healthier people to jump into the system? >> i do think we can figure out thousand how to do that. i think part of the problem is

passing a law and revisions to the affordable care act could encourage that. some of that is relative to making the penalty more realistic to people so they can't sort of come in for healthcare and leave and not pay. and then some of it's just changing the national attitude. i think we know what those policies are. now getting it through legislation in washington has been quite difficult. so we need to really say, look, we're going to have the affordable care act. let's improve it and stop talking about repealing it. because there is no replacement as we've learned from the republicans who simply can't come up with something credible. >> it's hurtful. here i'm trying to have a meaning full conversation with zeke, trying to connect with him and he puts that shiv in at the

very end. >> i don't want to hear what you've learned. >> he actually chiselled that on stone and held it up. >> joe has a fixation on the ten commandments. i never knew how important that movie was to him. >> what did you learn today? >> i learned because trump is so smart that he's going to end a press conference with the president of mexico in a few hours by saying the president of mexico is going to start he think -- helping me build a wall. >> donald trump is on his way to mexico to meet with the president, could cut either way. if you like donald trump he looks like a statesman. if you don't like him, it looks like he's pandering to a group he's insulted for the last few months. >> do you not care what i

learned today? >> no. >> i care. >> okay. what i learned today is hillary clinton's approval rates continue to drop pretty darn low, the lowest in i guess 20-30 years that the "washington post" has been taking it. and it just makes this going into labor day, it make this is contest a jump ball. >> that does it for us for now. we will see you tomorrow. stephanie rule picks up the coverage right now. good morning. i'm stephanie rule. we've got breaking news overnight. it's all about the surprise visit. donald trump set to meet with the mexican president ahead of a major immigration speech. trump, who kicked off his campaign attacking the country and linking immigrants to major crime. >> they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. >> mexico's former president